NEW! Viking World Cruise

  • From £50,790
  • |
  • 138 Days
  • |
  • 59 Guided Tours
  • |
  • 29 Countries

Phuket (Patong Beach), Thailand

The Thai island of Phuket offers more than picturesque beaches and sweeping vistas of sparkling azure waters. The island was long a major stop on trade routes between India and China, often mentioned in ship logs of European sailors. Around 1545, one Portuguese explorer called the island Junk Ceylon, and the name stuck for decades. Later, the French, Dutch and English competed for the island’s tin trade; the French East India Company won and played a role in local politics until 1688. Today, old Sino-Portuguese shop-houses and monuments to Buddha dot the island.